Rumors
by Irhaboggles
Summary: As it turns out, Elphaba loves to swim, and she loves the water! This means that all the rumors Galinda has been hearing around Shiz are only that: rumors. But she finds herself unable to realize this because she is so taken up by the fact that Elphaba isn't just swimming around, but that she has chosen to swim entirely naked.


Cold, clean, clear, flowing, smooth, encapsulating. The water flowed all around Elphaba's body, fitting her figure like a perfect cloak. She could feel its coolness, hissing across her green skin. She could feel the way it wrapped around her entire being, refreshing and perfect. It was relaxing and crisp and she loved the dull bubbling sound in made as she moved through it. Contrary to the common, albeit strange, rumors, the green girl was no more harmed by water than anybody else in the world. If anything, she _adored _water. Swimming in it brought so much peace to her. She was not on any sort of professional team and she was not a part of any club or spot, but recreational swimming simply for the sake of being in the water gave her the peace of mind that nothing else ever could.

There was something so enchanting and sweet about gliding effortlessly through crystal clear water, feeling its coolness brushing across her skin. There was something so refreshing about all of it. She loved to submerge fully and skim the bottom of the pool, gliding over it and pretending that she was flying. Down below, it was quiet and clear. Unlike the loud and rowdy surface world, which was often rife with woes and troubles of all sorts, getting to swim so easily under the water was very liberating. It was just her and her thoughts, alone together. There was nobody else there to interrupt or get in the way. It was just her and her mind, all alone, protected by the peace and quiet of the water. Suddenly, she was all that existed in the entire universe. There was no one else and there was nothing else. Just her and the water. Just her, submerged underneath, and no one else. No distraction or noise, just silence and safety. Just cool rippling water rushing around her body...

When Elphaba finally returned to the surface, reluctant to leave but out of time, she hopped gracefully out of the pool. It was then that she noticed that she had a watcher, lurking in the shadows of the pool room.

"Don't you know that staring is rude?" she taunted, not bothering to cover her nakedness as she looked at her spectator head on. It was Ms. Galinda Arduenna-Upland, the school snob and the queen bee, and one of Elphaba's fiercest tormentors. Being caught spying on Elphaba caused her to jump and she began to turn as pink as her dress with embarrassment.

"Don't you know that swimming nude is against school policy?" she shot back pathetically.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Elphaba asked smugly. "Are you going to tell on me? How will you be able to do that without admitting that you've seen me naked," Elphaba gestured to herself, still not even attempting to hide any inch of her exposed verdigris.

Galinda looked absolutely mortified, unsure of what would look worse on her: to keep on staring at Elphaba's naked form, or to cave and look away. Torn between the two options, she was doing a weird little number, bobbing her head and blinking, not quite looking directly at Elphaba in all of her nakedness, but not looking away either. Elphaba found it all incredibly amusing and satisfying.

"I thought you didn't like water!" Galinda snapped at last, just trying to fill the silence. It was a pathetic jibe, to say the least.

"Oh, you've been listening to more of those rumors, haven't you?" Elphaba scoffed. "You've been listening to those airheaded twits again, and all their words about how water will make me melt into a puddle of green goo! How pathetic!" Elphaba gave another scoff, then she dared to look right into Galinda's eyes. "You know, Ms. Upland, I honestly thought you were better than that..."

"Better than what?!" Galinda shrilled, suddenly rendered even more self-conscious by Elphaba's snide remark.

"Better than the idiots who make up all these obviously untrue rumors and lies. I thought that you, of all people, would be smart enough to ignore the rumors. Or at least, the rumors as pitiful and shameful as the ones that say water will melt my skin off. You can't trust everything that you hear, especially around these parts..."

Elphaba continued to taunt Galinda seductively, finally stepping ever closer to the terrified little blond. Now that she was out of her element, she had nowhere to go, and it was Elphaba who was in charge, for once. Galinda could only quake, her Queen Bee side totally gone. Elphaba knew this and smirked, forcing Galinda into some sort of reply.

"So I suppose all the other rumors are untrue as well then?" she tried to demand, but her voice came out as a squeak and Elphaba smirked at it.

"And what other rumors have you been listening to, my dear Ms. Galinda?" Elphaba demanded lowly, drawing in very close to the other girl.

"Well...ummm...uhhh...like-like, like the one that says you and Twillsa are- are-"

"Having a fling?" Elphaba finished for Galinda smugly, laughing. She'd heard this rumor before as well. "That little ditz in our science class?"

"Well, she is pretty, after all!" Galinda muttered defensively, cheeks brightening as she realized what she'd just said.

"Well, my dear Ms. Galinda, if you really are so jealous, she is all yours," Elphaba promised with another low laugh. "For that rumor, like all of the others, is only just a rumor. I have nothing to do with her, and she has nothing to do with me."

"So you aren't into other girls then," Galinda muttered, unthinkingly. This remark caused Elphaba's cruel smile to widen terribly.

"Ah, Ms. Galinda, how unlucky you are today. But perhaps I should amend my own words, for that rumor, I must confess, actually is one that is true..." then Elphaba gave Galinda one last huff of laughter before purposely bumping shoulders with her as she walked on out of the room, still totally naked, swaying her hips while Galinda could only stand there, frozen in fear, staring at the gently rippling surface of the now-empty pool.

ooo

Many years later, Glinda could only stare hollowly down at the large and majestic pool that the Emerald City Palace contained.

"Elphie, you would've loved it," she murmured as she watched the water ripple gently, a soothing hum filling the large room as the empty pool remained untouched. Glinda had no desire to go swimming herself, not very fond of the water, but she knew all too well about how much the water had meant to Elphaba. To her, it had always been a source of strength, comfort and safety. It was her comfort zone, and her place of rest and energy. Elphaba had loved to swim, dipping and diving, spending hours alone in the safety of her own little world, sheltered by the waters that encircled her body and rushed over her head.

To just see a pool now reminded Glinda of that affinity Elphaba had always shared with the water and it made her grieve. The green girl had finally been killed, put down by the Wizard of Oz and his minions. Though the story was murky and unclear, confused with all sorts of rumors and fantasies, one simple truth could not be denied: the Wicked Witch of the West was dead. The most popular version of the tale said that she had been melted by a bucket of holy water. It made Glinda want to laugh. She couldn't believe that the schoolgirl rumor about Elphaba and the water had actually carried out into the masses, but that rumor stuck. But regardless of rumor, there was one simple truth that could not be denied...

"But they never found a body, did they?" a voice suddenly asked behind Glinda as she stared into the pool's crystal depths. "Honestly, Glinda, I thought we've already been through this! You can't trust everything that you hear, especially around these parts..."

"There were rumors that you had lived," she murmured, too scared to even breathe, in case the voice only proved to be nothing but another hallucination. "Those rumors may have been smaller, but they were still there..."

"Ah, true! Then perhaps I should amend my own words, for that rumor, I must confess, actually is one that is true..."

**AN: I love to swim and I love the water, so here's a random ode to that, mixed with some light Gelphie fluff/flirting. And yes, this fic takes the musical route and writes that Elphaba's water allergy is no more than a stupid rumor made up by terrified idiots. I honestly don't care what you think about Elphaba's relationship with water because I'll accept any canon, but it would be interesting to see one that's positive (like the intro paragraphs of this story depict. Recreational swimming really is very relaxing and almost therapeutic. Just you, the water and your thoughts...)**


End file.
